Safety device for electric wall sockets



March 17, 1959 A, B, CO'RMIER 2,878,456

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC WALL SOCKETS Filed March 21, 1956 I INVENTOR ALBAN B. CORMIER ATTORNEY I SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIO WALL 0CKETS Albert E. Cormier, Leominster, Mass.

Application March 21, 1956, Serial No. 572,945

1 Claim. (Cl. 339-44) This invention relates to a new and improved safety device for electric wall sockets, the installation of the invention preventing shock which may be incurred in removing plugs from the wall sockets, particularly on the part of small children who are apt to get their fingers in under the plug and in contact with the prongs before the prongs are completely removed from the live sockets in the wall fixture.

Objects of the present invention include the provision of a device as above described including an inexpensive molded plastic guard device which is quickly and easily applied to the wall plate for the sockets or which may be molded integrally therewith, wherein said guard comprises an outstanding part or parts surrounding the sockets and plugs and preventing the entry of the fingers thereinto, particularly when the plug is being inserted or removed with respect to the socket; and the provision of a safety guard device as above stated including the provision of means for closing the sockets, said means being molded integrally with the guard device of a flexible plastic material such as polyethylene.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 shows a guard of the present invention applied with respect to a wall socket;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the device.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 indicates a conventional Wall plate which provides a support or covering means for a pair of sockets 12 which may be of any usual or conventional shape or construction and which are well known electric outlets. This plate is usually secured to a portion of the well known receptacle (not shown) by means of a small central screw 14.

The present invention includes a molded plastic narrow shield-like device which in the present case is shown as double for application to a wall plug having the two sockets shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The device includes a housing which is generally indicated at 16, said housing being relatively thin-walled as at 18 and is open at both ends, providing a pair of connected guard shields which are separated by a cylindrical member 20 in which the screw 14 may be applied to secure the guard device to the plate 10, or to the usual electric receptacle.

The two relatively large openings 22 in the guard device coincide With the sockets at 12 and outline the same providing a continuous outstanding wall for each socket, said wall being of appreciable height in the neighborhood of three-quarters of an inch to an inch.

It will be seen that the fingers of one applying or with- "2,878,456 Patented Mar. 17, 1959 drawing the ordinary pronged plug 24 will be prevented from coming into proximity to the electric contacts of the socket because there is no room for the fingers to fit into the guard openings 22 at the same time that the plug is positioned therein. Particularly in withdrawing the plug 24,, the fingers will not be enabled to get to the position of the prongs 26 until the latter have been withdrawn completely from the socket, thus avoiding the possibility of any shock to the fingers.

The plastic material of which the guard device is made may be polyethylene or the like. Closure members 28 may be integrally molded with the guard member 16 and connected thereto by thin permanent integral flexible tongues 30 which act as straps or hinges, so that the closure members 28 may be brought up as shown at the lefthand side in Figs. 1 and 2 and snapped into the underlying shoulders 32 of the sockets. Each member 28 is provided with an undercut portion at 34 for this purpose, and the closures 28 are easily normally opened or closed as an additional safety feature.

It will be seen that this invention provides a relatively simple and inexpensive guard for the purpose described which is particularly adapted to prevent small children from receiving shocks from wall outlets or the like, including the safety feature when the plug 24 is being placed in position in the socket and also when the same is withdrawn. The closure members 28 are used to pre vent entry of the fingers when any socket is not in use. Also, in cases where the plug 24 is small, the wire W may extend out a hole 36 with the closures 28 in closed position, for additional protection.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

A molded plastic safety device for double electric outlets comprising a rectangular thin-walled continuous boxlike shield, the exterior walls of which are substantially equal in respect to the length of the prongs of a standard electric plug, and said shield being double, providing a pair of relatively deep through passages therethrough to accommodate the electric plug and conforming in general contour to the sockets for a double wall outlet, a transverse relatively thick partition between the two passages completely separating the same, said partition being hollow and open at both ends, and a hollow elongated central member in said partition extending from endto-end thereof, a web adjacent an end of the central hollow member to receive a screw to attach the device to the double wall outlet at the center thereof, said passages each having an undercut rim at the end thereof opposite the web in the central hollow member, a pair of closure members integral with the shield, one closure for each passage, a flexible tongue connecting the shield and each closure member, and shoulders on the closure members to yieldingly snap into the rim and latch the closure members in position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,978,510 Spence Oct. 30, 1934 2,200,395 Lobl May 14, 1940 2,507,654 Stubbs May 16, 1950 2,628,264 Esher Feb. 10, 1953 2,709,198 Holtshouser May 24, 1955 2,759,160 Kelley Aug. 14, 1956 

